Follow along with Bob and Snookie Quinn as they live their dream as fulltime RV'ers.
If you would like to start at the beginning, click on Let the Adventure Begin in the right hand column to get to the first page.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

First thing this morning the Activities team got the newsletter folded and distributed. That's done for another month. I can start the last one of the year now.

Our Valentine's Dinner/Dance is nearly sold out as is the Mystery Dinner. (Note to LaVon: you & Don should come over and get some tickets for our events.) I'm really looking forward to this Mystery Dinner we're having. I can't tell you anything about it because I don't have a clue as to what is happening, or what we'll eat. I do know that it is NOT a whodunit. I'm sure I'll have lots to tell you and lots of pictures when the time comes but it doesn't happen until the 21st.

Tonight we had the Comedy Night again and the headliner was fantastic! He sang, he told jokes, he did impressions and it was all as if he was telling a story as he went along. We're having him back on the 27th and I bet he's a sellout once everyone who was there tells the ones who didn't make it what a great act he is. In case you are wondering, he has two acts, we won't watch the same one again.

The weather is absolutely perfect here right now. We're in the mid-seventies again, everyone is in shorts, the sun is shining and the sky is blue. All is right with our world.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Another busy day in the world of Activities. Questions and tickets and directions, but hey, that's what we're here for.

Final adjustments and corrections were made to the newsletter and it was time to print off the final copy to take to Office Max for printing. Oh no! I'm losing the last letters on the edge of the paper. Tried as hard as I did to correct it I couldn't make it happen. Kim wasn't around today to help so I called Jeannie. She tried and it was better but not perfect. She suggested I call Helen M. in the park, she is well versed in Microsoft Publisher. What a Godsend she was! She taught me quite a few of the functions and little tricks I didn't know. In just mere minutes everything was printed and I was out the door to the printer.

Darrell and Dona drove into Casa Grande and I went with them. We dropped off the newsletter with instructions and then we went shopping. We picked up a few things for the Valentine's dance and before we knew it, it was time to pick up the newsletter and head back home.

Bob puttered around the rig today and worked some more on the itinerary for the trip this summer.

My lower back was bothering my by the end of the day so around 7 I went up to the hot tub with every intention of spending an hour and coming home. Well, I ended up staying in for three hours because friends kept coming and going and it was just plain comfortable. I looked like a prune by the time I got out! But my back felt good!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

The "ticket window" in the office was busy all day today. Between tickets sales and the winter residents turning in their registration slips and entry fees for the Quail Run Senior Winter Olympics, well, we were kept jumping.

I spent a few hours today finishing up the newsletter and its ready to go to press tomorrow morning. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. We've got a whopping 16 pages this month and I could have probably done 18 if I wanted to, but I've got to be mindful of printing costs.

We had some excitement on my street today. Our next door neighbors, Steve and Carol, (we stayed at their home in Salt Lake City this summer) got their new rig today. It is just beautiful! Its an 08 Montana and just so nice! I want one!

I asked Carol if she wanted to trade but she said no. I told her I thought we were good friends and she replied, "Snookie, we are good friends, but not THAT good!"

I hope they have many happy seasons in their new home.

Bob played poker tonight but didn't have a good night at all. It seems one player had all the luck tonight and took everyone's money.

I made a run into town to get printer ink for the computer in the office and Kim went with me to pick up some things she needed. Its nice to have someone to ride along and to talk to when taking care of errands.

I thought about sitting in the hot tub tonight but it was just a tad too chilly to walk up there and to think about walking home in a wet bathing suit, towel and warm wraparound or not.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

After a very busy day in the office today, sixteen of us went out for a Mexican Dinner in Eloy.

It was a small little restaurant with very nice, colorful murals painted on the walls.

We all had something different and to tell ya the truth, I wasn't all that impressed with the place. Three from our table had to send our plates back for one reason or another and several of us had dinners that were cold. Its not a place that we'll go back to. But we tried it and now we know.

Not all was lost, Dona did enjoy her margarita.

After dinner, I teamed up with Ann in her car and we went to Penny's. They are having a heck of a sale and we wanted to take advantage of some of the buys. The day before, fellow workampers, Jim and Chris had been there and scarfed up St. John Bay T-shirts with the pocket for 46 cents a piece! Forty six cents! Of course when we got there tonight they were long gone, but I did manage to get Bob two new T's that were on the spend-y side for next to nothing. It wasn't a wasted trip. Ann, on the other hand, hit the mother lode! She found all kinds of shirts for her husband at great prices. So we both left there with stuff for the husbands and we couldn't find a thing for ourselves. Penny's had really nice leather jackets that were originally $225.00 on sale for $24.99. What a buy! I thought about it, more than once, but walked away. Someday I'll regret that, I know.

The weather is going to start warming up here tomorrow. I'm so glad about that!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

I ran the counter up with the posting I've been doing getting the blog caught up. Sorry, Wilf, maybe next time. You've only got 999 page visits to go and you'll get another chance at it.

It was one busy day in the office today! I had ten things going at once and each staff member was busy and the ticket window was busy all day and on top of it all we've got a Super Bowl Party to get together in just a few days. Our pastor has just gotten a projector type thing and the picture is 60"! He's offered to bring it to the Carnaval Room and share it with all of us for the Super Bowl. We've got to get the word out now and I bet once it starts it will spread like wildfire. I can already imagine all the food we'll have. There won't be a need to cook dinner that day!

I'm really torn on who to root for in this game. Our Eagles had gotten so close and were beaten out by the Arizona Cardinals. So do I root for the Steelers because we're from Delaware and Pennsylvania is our neighbor or do I root for Arizona because this is our winter home now? To tell ya the truth, at this point all I care about is the commercials. At three million dollars for 30 seconds they better be good ones!

Bob and I spent some time today filling out the paperwork for our Passports. We're going to get the Passport Cards they offer now since we'll need one to get through Canada on our way to Alaska. Cards are a lot less expensive than the Passport booklets and Bob says he is never, ever going to get on a plane again to visit some foreign country, that there's a lot to see in this country. I have to agree with him. The card will get us into Canada and Mexico and that's all we need.

We had a cold front come through and we're back in the long pants again. I hear we'll be back in the mid to high 70's in a day or two. That would be nice but I want the 80's!

Monday, January 26, 2009

That's right, we went up to Mesa to a pizza place called Organ Stop Pizza. We went there last year and enjoyed it so much we decided to go back this year. Last year it was at Christmas time so we saw the Christmas program with a guest organist, this time it was with the usual show with one of the regular organists.

I don't think I could ever get tired listening to this instrument. Probably because it makes the sound of nearly every instrument there is.

Darrell and Dona rode with us and we had an enjoyable trip there and back getting to know these two even better. They are planning on coming back again next year.

Another look at it during the question and answer period.

I can't even imagine knowing what one quarter of these keys do!

We sat up in the balcony today and took notice of the ceiling fans. They are run by belts and pulleys!

Since everything was under control and I wasn't missed in the office when I returned I figured it was a good day to take the rest of the day off. Jeannie has been on me to take some time off anyway. I will gladly do that when it gets really warm out. We're only in the mid-70's right now and I want it a tad bit warmer when I start laying out and working on the tan. No farmer tan for me this year!

I received this in my email today. I laughed out loud at this and hope you get a chuckle too. Thanks Skip!

The pastor asked if anyone in the congregation would like to express praise for answered prayers. A lady stood and walked to the podium. She said, "I have a Praise. Two months ago, my husband, Tom, had a terrible bicycle wreck and his scrotum was completely crushed. The pain was excruciating and the doctors didn't know if they could help him."

You could hear a muffled gasp from the men in the congregation as they imagined the pain that poor Tom must have experienced.

"Tom was unable to hold me or the children," she went on, "and every move caused him terrible pain. We prayed as the doctors performed a delicate operation, and it turned out they were able to piece together the crushed remnants of Tom's scrotum, and wrap wire around it to hold it in place."

Again, the men in the congregation were unnerved and squirmed uncomfortably as they imagined the horrible surgery performed on Tom.

"Now," she announced in a quavering voice, "thank the Lord, Tom is out of the hospital and the doctors say that with time, his scrotum should recover completely."

All the men sighed with relief. The pastor rose and tentatively asked if anyone else had something to say. A man stood up and walked slowly to the podium.

He said, "I'm Tom." The entire congregation held its breath. "I just want to tell my wife that the word is sternum."

Sunday, January 25, 2009

I have not eaten an orange since I was a little kid. I'm talkin' 45 years ago! Now I can't seem to get enough of them. Arrangements were made for an "Orange Man" to come into the park and as a thank you he gave me a free bag. I put some in the fridge and Bob reminded me that they were in there so I thought, "Oh, what the heck, I'll taste one". That's all it took. Now I'm eating 2 or 3 a day. So juicy, so sweet! Don't these look good?

My friend and co-worker, Kim and I spent the day writing our park's newsletter. We realized what day it was and that we are running out of month and thought we had better get it done. This was the first issue I have really been responsible for and I was concerned that it wouldn't get done in time, especially since the month is passing by so quickly. Since the office was closed most of the day anyway and there is lots going on around us so the office wasn't very busy even during the few hours we were open, we were able to knock out quite a bit of work. We finished up 12 pages of it today, not bad for five and a half hours of work. We will probably have four more pages before we're done. We'll need a couple of more hours and we can put this issue to bed. One more issue to go.

Tonight we had the Cancer Survivor Party here in the park. This is a HUGE party and so much fun. Darlene (r) and Lynn(l) put this party on every year.

Darlene is now an eight year survivor, certainly a reason to party! This party to celebrate those who beat this dreaded disease and to remember those who didn't.

Music was provided by the ever popular Carol Powers. She knows this crowd so well and just loves playing for us. She gets into the party just as much as we do.

At one point all the survivors were asked to come up front. The number of people is staggering considering the number of people in the room in total.

Here are George and Carol, Activities staff members, OMG, can they polka! I could sit and watch them all day. They never miss a step and put everything they have into it.

This is my good friend, Al. The scarf around his head isn't a part of his normal attire. Everyone got these scarves tonight and I guess he didn't know where else to put his.

This was another great party but boy oh boy am I hurting now. Since I haven't been able to dance lately because of the pain in my leg and since I was feeling really good when I got here tonight, well, you figure it out. Bob couldn't dance at all as he is in lots of pain right now too. He sneezed. Yep, a sneeze put him out of commission for a few days now. He sneezed really hard and it came with absolutely no warning. It happened at a time when he was in the middle of a turn and his torso was twisted and it really hurt his back. It even hurts him to laugh. We sure are a pair right now.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Tonight is the night that "The Mental Institution" performs here in the park. One of our Activities Staff found this online and I called a few places where he performed and heard good things and the price was just right so I booked him.

We started advertising weeks ago in a roundabout way. We put signs up indicating something special was coming to Quail Run and we had a countdown of days on our in park TV channel. It was quite the buzz for awhile.

I went up to the Carnaval Room around six to see if he had arrived as yet and when I when I entered the room this fella yells, STOP! I did, in my tracks! He put his hand to his forehead and says, "I'm getting something, a vision, it's coming." Then he looks at me and points and says, "Snookie!" Yeah, it was our "mentalist" welcoming me into the room. I got a good laugh out of that.

At six thirty the winter residents started coming in to get seats. We had designated all the white colored chairs to be off limits during the performance for those who wanted no parts of being "in" the show.

There was a little technical difficulty at the beginning with our CD player but we got past that quickly.

I had read the web site for this act but really had no idea what to expect as far as a specifics were concerned.

I talked with his wife as he set up the stage with his props.

While he was finishing up he asked me if I would draw a picture on a white piece of paper taped to a square, black plastic (I think) board. I took a seat in the back of the room so that he couldn't see what I was drawing while he was on stage. I can't draw! I couldn't think of a thing to make a drawing of. I was wondering that if I did think of something to draw could I possibly make the picture on the paper resemble anything even near to the picture in my mind. Between you and me, I had HUGE doubts! I looked around the room for something to draw and I just didn't think I could pull off a drawing of a piano, or a rack of chairs or even a single chair for that matter! He was almost done on stage so just to have something on the paper I drew two stick people. Now doesn't that just inspire the heck out of you? Yep, two stick people, the extent of my artistic talent. Now to my credit, they were good stick people! I even named them and drew them holding hands! I named the taller one Bob and the smaller one Snookie. Again, the originality of it all is beyond belief!

I told him I was done and he had me hold it up with the picture facing me. He then took a dish towel and lowered the towel between me and the plastic board. He draped it over the board and then I could hold it flat in my hands. He took another square plastic board and laid it on top of the towel. While I was holding it securely he took large rubber bands and secured the two boards corner to corner. The picture I drew was never out of my possession and at no time could he see the stick figure portrait. I had to run home at one point when I realized that my camera battery was back in the rig in the charger. The drawing went with me.

The room filled quickly and it was time for the show to get underway. I had Janet C. sitting next to me, with much trepidation. She just didn't know what to expect and because I kinda, sorta, insisted she sit next to me, well, she was leery to say the least. Well, wouldn't you know it, she got picked to go up on stage. I swear I had nothing to do with it! Well, ok, maybe a little bit. Maybe I did nod towards her when he was looking for a victim participant. Ok, Ok, maybe I did in fact have my hand behind her pointing to her in a definite Pick Her, Pick Her, manner. She was invited up on the stage and asked to pick one of the chairs pictured below to sit in and it had to be one with an envelope in it. That certainly narrowed it down.

So she picks which seat she wants to sit in....

The "Great Massimo" then picks up the envelope from the seat of the chair she didn't choose and takes out a piece of paper and asked Janet to read it the audience. She read, "I knew you wouldn't pick this chair." Of course, she was then asked to read the note in the envelope from the chair she did pick. You guessed it, it said, "I knew you would pick this chair".

He did several "mental readings" involving playing cards, some I figured out how he did it and some I didn't.

He had Dona, an Activities staff member, involved with a, I don't know if I'm supposed to call them "tricks" or not, but for the lack of a better term its the one I'm going to use.

Dona had to take the three die and toss them and write down the number showing on top when they stopped rolling across the floor. He was busy doing something on stage while she was doing this. Getting a white board to write on and looking for a marker is what I think he was doing. So he looks at the floor and tells her to take the two closest to her and write down the number that is on the opposite side of the number showing. DUH! Like we're not figuring this one out! She does it and she now has five numbers on her white board. He tells her to add them. She did. At the same time he writes a number on his board. I'll be darn, they both have the same number!

He did several more tricks and kidded with us along the way.

He then brought out a bag of marbles, one black and five white. He asked six audience members to reach in and take one out but to hide it from him and their neighbors. He then went to each one who had the marble clenched in their fist and made a show of ...well here, you can see for yourself. He's feeling Kim's aura here.

Now I really don't know how he did this and I probably missed something along the way but then again maybe not because he did get some really good applause on this one. He picked out of the six the one who had the black marble.

Next it was my turn. He called me up on stage and explained to the audience that I had drawn a picture earlier in the evening and that he had no opportunity to see it and I confirmed everything he said as true. And it was!

He told me to "put it on my head". So I did. I held it directly, flatly, on my head. He looked at me and said, "It's not raining!" Oh, he didn't mean that way, he meant to put it against my forehead so that I could concentrate on it better. Ok, gotcha. I did what he wanted. As I stood there and concentrated on my stick figure drawing he was busy drawing on his own paper. He then helped me to take the rubber bands off, lift the plastic board, take the dish towel off and I held the picture up for the audience to see. Soon after he held his drawing up. Stick people! Two of them. I have no idea how he did this. I am absolutely, positive that he did NOT see my drawing.

He ended the hour long show with his trademark trick. Breaking a lightbulb with his mind.

He was concentrating very hard and was standing in a really cool pose so I asked him to hold that stance until I got a picture. I interrupted his thought process I guess because he had to start over.

I then asked him to let me know just before it was going to break so I could snap a picture. He said he couldn't do that. Needless to say I didn't get it breaking, I was a second too late in snapping but I got one of of the broken light bulb. Nope, don't ask me, I don't have a clue.

Was the show worth all the hype? Probably not, at times it was pretty hokey. Was it night out, away from TV reruns? Sure was! Did we all get a few laughs? You bet.

I heard about some complaints but then doesn't every crowd have those who just have to complain about everything and anything?

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

The team got busy first thing this morning baking the biscuits for tonight's Strawberry Shortcake Dessert Night.

Steve with one baking pan ready to go and waiting for the ones in the oven to get done.

Can you just imagine sweet, sliced strawberries and whipped cream on these?

Ann, a former restaurant owner/manager/chief cook/dishwasher showing off the beautiful biscuits the team is stockpiling. I have to tell you, I don't know what I would do without Ann, she really keeps me grounded when it comes time for buying food for a large dinner or party we're giving. She's gives such good advice and really knows her way around the kitchen. Besides all that, she is just so nice to be around. I am truly blessed to have team members like Ann and the others who are working with me this year. The best part,,,,Ann is coming back next year!

Marlena mixing the whipping cream up. We had hoped to make our own whipped cream but we found it tasted kind of bland even with adding more vanilla and powdered sugar. Just to be safe, Ann and I made a run into town to buy the real whipped cream in the cans. It wasn't our plan but its what we had to do.

We planned on the Strawberry Night to start at promptly 7 pm even though the winter residents were lined up at 6:30. I just stayed out of the Cantina until 6:57 and it couldn't be started without me because I had the cash box.

We learned a lesson on this one. Sell tickets in advance! What we did was have a sign up sheet when we really should have just sold tickets in the week prior. I look at it this way, this is how we learn what works and what doesn't. I had taken the sign up sheet and marked everyone off on a printout Jeannie made for me by site #. This is made it so much easier to mark off the participants, asking for site number, rather than running the down sign up sheets with all that different handwriting. Out of 139 signed up, 21 didn't show for whatever reason. Had we sold tickets in advance we wouldn't care if they showed or not, well, we would have, you know what I mean. So we had some left over but we decided we'll sell it at Bingo tomorrow night.

We also had a Jam Session going on at the same time in the Carnaval Room. Winter residents from the park gathered on the stage and we had a few from a visiting park join in.

We have some very talented musicians in this park! And songwriters! Wilf, far left, wrote a song about Don, the Peacock....again this year. Don is a harmonica player and Wilf's song was about his playing. I just have to get the words to it, its a riot!

Bill and Pat, Bill got this whole thing together, thank you Bill!

Tonight was a huge success for the Activities Team. We'll have another Jam Session and when Bill let's me know when, I'll be the second to know, he says, then we'll start planning our next dessert night. I'm thinking peach cobbler, perhaps ala' mode.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Today we had a tag along to the Olive Mill in Queen Creek. Quite a few signed up for this day trip so I handed out maps and crossed names off of the list of participants to make sure everyone who was supposed to go was there. All present and accounted for, I then met up with Ann to get some shopping done.

Since our much awaited for Strawberry Shortcake Dessert Night is tomorrow night we thought it a good idea to go get the ingredients we need to make the homemade biscuits and real whipped cream.

We thought to be on the safe side we had better get some more strawberries, we certainly didn't want to fall short there! Our first stop was Fry's grocery store where I bought all the other strawberries. Strawberries that were 2 quarts for $3.00. No longer! How about $3.99 a quart? Oh no, this wouldn't do! We did get the flour, sugar, baking powder and a few other things on our list.

We went to Food City next in search of cheaper strawberries and in that store we couldn't find any at all. Just as we were leaving we saw the produce man and asked him if he had any. It just so happens he was pushing a cart and they were loaded on there. At $2.49 a quart! We pulled out a few of plastic see through boxes and felt lucky to have found them.

Next stop was Walmart. We got the rest of the things on our list and then went to the house wares department. There were some things we needed to replace in the kitchen because they were broken or just plain old. We also picked up some more items that are just nice to have and will make life easier for us when we have a large lunch or dinner to prepare. And we do have more than a few meals to prepare for large groups.

When the work day was done Bob and I joined our neighbors across the street for awhile. They had bought dipping oils and breads from the Olive Mill today and were having a tasting party. Kind of makes me wish we had gone now!

Tonight Bob played pool and I spent my time getting this blog caught up. Now if only I could keep it that way!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Another beautiful day in the desert for us. Blue skies, warm temps, all is right with our world!

We had one busy day today in the Activities arena. I asked some members of the Red Team to go through the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen to take out stuff we haven't used, we'll never use and to just generally get rid of things that are doing no more than taking up space. This fantastic team went way beyond the call of duty. Not only did they empty every nook and cranny they washed down the inside and outsides of all the cabinets and drawers, washed every dish and utensil, every pot and pan and bleached the cutting boards. It took five of them all day to do the job but you can believe this kitchen is SPOTLESS! Everything is arranged according to its use, frequency of use and the best thing of all....things were found that none of us had ever seen before! There is lots more room now that the junk has been rid of. We laid all the things out that were still serviceable and wrote a sign that said FREE. It didn't take long for the things to find new homes.

While these five were busy, two other team members were busy in the office tending to ticket sales and answering questions about upcoming events.

This afternoon I had to go see my friend, Janet, who is co-chairing the Winter Olympics this year and we happen to live on the same street. As I'm getting to closer to our place I heard this voice yell, "Snookie Quinn, you better get back to work!" I looked up to see who that was coming from and I saw this woman standing there. My first reaction was, "Darn, who is that? I know her, but who is it?" I looked and looked and then it hit me! DeAnn! What a surprise to see her! She and her husband, Bruce, were the Activities Coordinators here last year.

She said that she and Bruce were in South Dakota for the past few days, FREEZING and since they had a long weekend they decided to fly down before they went back home to Kansas to get warm. They were just loving this sunshine and warm temps! They both just looked wonderful and I was so happy to see them.

Note to Bruce: The picture I took of you turned out really, really good but unfortunately it wasn't one of DeAnn's best so I chose not to share it here. Just wanted you to know why your pic didn't make the cut buddy.

I would have loved to have spent more time with them but they had so many to see before they left and they were flying out tonight. I sure hope our paths cross again.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

What an absolutely beautiful day it was today! We're back up in the mid to high 70's every day now and you can just tell spring is in the air. At least here in the desert it is.

Jeannie picked me up at 11:30 so that we could go in town to Casa Grande to check out a group called the Keepsakes for possibly booking them here in the park. They weren't taking the stage until one so we had time to check out the vendors and wares for sale.

I just love these small town street fairs, the smells, the sounds, the people.

This vendor sold the most amazing metal work. I really could have spent a fortune here if I had some place to put these things.

There were lots of metal workers displaying their handiwork and each one was different.

Being from Quail Run, I really liked this quail family, especially since it was only $49.00! The colors in it are just beautiful.

As we were walking down the street I heard that familiar sound and it didn't take long for me to find this musician.

To me, the sound of a pan flute is just so special.

In all the times I've been to downtown Casa Grande I never took notice of this wall mural before. The colors are so vibrant I don't know how I missed it.

Jeannie checking out some embroidered shirts. Take notice, no ugly socks today. I made sure before I got in the car with her!

As we walked down the street we stopped to look at something and then noticed the people who were sitting behind the display. Actually, it was the dog that caught our eyes.

If you had to write a caption for the next picture, what would it be?

There was a little girl, Kaylee, who wanted her picture taken too. Isn't she a cutie?

It was getting close to one and everyone was finding a seat to watch the band.

Soon it was showtime! The Keepsakes are a doo-wop band and the songs they sang brought back many memories for the audience members. I watched and a lot of them had smiles as each new song was sung as if it was bringing back a memory of a boyfriend or girlfriend of long ago or perhaps a special occasion such as a prom. I saw lots of toes tapping and dancing in the seats.

This lady is evidently an avid follower of the band or maybe even a friend of the band members. When they saw her she was invited to show us how she cha-cha's and could this lady dance! She was fun to watch.

We enjoyed the band and we'll be sure to book them for next season!

Jeannie and I then went to lunch. I had never eaten at an In & Out before. Its a fast food hamburger joint and I have to say it was the best fast food burger I've ever had. McDonald's has better fries, but the burgers can't be beat!

After pizza for dinner I spent some time in the hot tub again. I'm gettin' real used to this.

Bob has been busy planning our route and stops for our trip this summer so he hasn't been up to much other than that. I don't mean to say that's all he does, it isn't, but its taking up a lot of his time.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Its that time again, time for the dreaded monthly pancake breakfast. I don't like these things. You have to get up too early. This was the first time this team has been responsible for one so I felt as though I should be there. The day starts way too early for me.

So I showed up at 7:50, the team got there at 6:30, and things were well under way. Our breakfast starts at 7:30 and at 7:31 the first pancake was being served.

It was a huge breakfast this time. I don't recall ever having so many there for pancakes before. We served 112 in two hours time.

Here's George keeping the pancakes coming.

Another thing that started this month in the park is the "Orange Man" coming every Saturday until the end of the season. I had passed him on the side of the road earlier this week and stopped to talk with him. I asked him if he visited RV Parks and he said no, but that he would like to. So I invited him to come to Quail Run.

I don't know how many bags he sold but I do know that it was quite a few and he was quite happy. It seems every other person I saw had a bag of oranges in their arms. I tasted one and they are oh so sweet! Most of the bags had about 20 good sized oranges in it and they run $4.00 a bag.

As soon as the kitchen was nearly cleaned up I made my way home. I wanted and needed to be done for the weekend!

After dinner I went to the hot tub again. It was full tonight with seven of us in it. A little crowded but we had a good time and lots of laughs.

I'm sure you've all seen the pictures of the plane that crashed in the river in New York this past week. Have you seen the picture of what is believed to have caused it? If not, check this out!

Friday, January 16, 2009

I slept like a baby last night! I was even able to sleep on my left side, as usual, something I haven't been able to do since before Christmas. If its because of the hot tub then I'll be in that thing every night!

We had quite a busy day today with last minute tickets being sold for our show tonight and Valentine's tickets flying out the door.

Rebecca Dawn came into the park tonight to entertain us. And entertain us she did!

We had seen her here last year and even though parts of the show were the same it was enjoyable to watch all over again.

She does a part of her show from the floor interacting with the audience. This year was no difference. Here she is with The Peacock of the Park, my good buddy Don. Now why she picked him out of all the audience members is beyond me. I really don't think it had anything to do with me standing behind him and pointing to him when she looked at me.

During her salute to the military she must have asked for a Marine because when I came back into the room our good friend and neighbor, Steve (we stayed him and Carol in Utah) was up on stage with her.

She left him with this souvenir.

I think she was singing "These Boots Were Made for Walking" when she brought Pat Y. up on the stage with her.

I forget what the next song was but Pat got right into the dance with her!

Here's another winter resident that stepped up to the plate. You just have to give these people credit when they get up and sing along when they and everyone else knows that singing is not their strong suit. But hey, its all part of having fun here. Here's Mel Y. singing his heart out as he sings one of the Salute to the Military songs with Rebecca Dawn. Sorry Mel, didn't mean to say you can't sing but if you were still working I'd tell you to keep your day job. Just kidding my friend.

During the second half of the show she dressed as Patsy Cline. Ron S. was just enjoying this a bit too much!

During the intermission we tried something new. We sold sodas and popcorn and it was well received by the winter residents. We'll try this again next time to see if it goes over as well as it did tonight.

I went to check the hot tub out after the show to see who was in it and I found our friend Wilf all alone and enjoying the heck out of it!

Wise Words

There comes a point in your life when you realize: Who matters, Who never did, Who won't anymore... And who always will.. So, don't worry about people from your past, there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future..

Frequent Readers

Where We've Been Prior to Fulltiming

Where We've Been Since Fulltiming

Who's Visiting Right Now

DEAD LAST FINISH

IS GREATER THAN

DID NOT FINISH

WHICH GREATLY TRUMPS

DID NOT START.

Weather Back Home

Our Winter Home In Quail Run

How I Want to LIVE

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming 'Wow, what a ride.'"

Save the Earth...It's the only planet with chocolate!!!!

Bumper sticker of the year:
'If you can read this,
thank a teacher
-and, since it's in English,
thank a soldier'